


What Comes After

by thawrecka



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thawrecka/pseuds/thawrecka
Summary: Things are left a wreck in the wake of the fight with the Quincies, but every ending is another thing's beginning, and Byakuya is looking for something to begin.





	What Comes After

"Is it over?" someone asked.

Certainly that enormous spiritual pressure had dissipated and the sounds of fighting died away. As always, the moment after a battle seemed awkwardly still, as if nobody was sure whether to let themselves breathe in relief yet.

The remaining chunks of the monstrous thing in front of them lay unmoving, its power stolen by its leader before their endless hacking and slashing could make it too big to fight. Byakuya supposed its leader must have also gone down, if nobody was yelling about it any more.

If that meant his sister and Abarai had survived, he would rejoice.

Who among them remained after all this destruction? Hitsugaya and Zaraki had obviously survived, and so had he. He took a moment to survey the field to see if he could view anyone moving through the rubble. In the distance there was movement, certainly, but he could only see so far. Lieutenant Hisagi somehow appeared from the wreckage and perched himself on a crumbled piece of masonry. Zaraki's two most annoying subordinates were stumbling around, with expressions that suggested perhaps they were surprised to be alive.

One clenched the other's arm as he looked about his feet. "I lost my ear feathers at some point in the fighting."

"Who cares? You're still beautiful. You're more beautiful than ever!" 

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this public display. For all their vulgarity, the members of the eleventh division usually knew better than to act like that in public.

"We're alive," one of them murmured, and then the other leaned in, and they were kissing. If he'd ever imagined it, and certainly he wouldn't want to degrade himself by sinking to imagining _that_ , he wouldn't have imagined any of Zaraki's subordinates could be so gentle with each other. They were certainly all passionate, but it was the passion of violent people who loved the fight; what a surprise to see the different kind of passion they could give to one another.

Perhaps it was the giddiness of being alive even after all this that was taking them over.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, then wiped the blood from his face. By the look on his face, Hitsugaya seemed just as surprised by Madarame and Ayesegawa, though with his lieutenant surely Hitsugaya should be used to shamelessness.

"Don't worry. You're not my type," Byakuya said.

Hitsugaya scoffed; he looked as tired as Byakuya felt, but for that moment his face was energised by the shared levity.

The kissing must have paused for a moment because there were faint murmurs, though not faint enough to keep him from hearing them. When he looked, they were still holding each other, touching each other's faces. There'd always been rumours about them, but how strange to see them effectively confirmed.

He would never have done something like that in public with Hisana. Even holding her hand had felt so powerful and vulnerable it made him feel all his raw edges were exposed. To even imagine letting people see him in that state!

But, perhaps, there was some charm in seeing people letting themselves be raw amongst all this rubble.

"Should we kiss Captain, too?" That from Madarame.

Byakuya felt himself blinking in shock.

And then the shameless reply from Ayesegawa: "He'd kill us if we tried. Kiss me instead."

Well, Byakuya certainly couldn't fault that logic, even if he turned away from the sight of their renewed embrace. They were vulgar, after all.

"Doesn't anyone have anything to say that doesn't involve kissing?" Byakuya found himself asking.

Zaraki, paused in the action of lifting the detached chunk of his arm and peering at it, scoffed. "Don't be such a killjoy, Kuchiki."

"At this point, I can hardly be accused of being the biggest killjoy to come through here today. Surely, right now it would be more appropriate to organise ourselves for clean up efforts."

Zaraki dropped his own arm and loped over. "I'll show you inappropriate," he said, and used his remaining hand to capture Byakuya's face and hit him with a kiss.

Byakuya closed his eyes in shock. Even a kiss from Zaraki Kenpachi was the kind of assault you had to prepare yourself for. He pulled away from it before Byakuya had the chance to return the assault in kind.

Byakuya's muttered, inane, "How lively of you," did nothing to diminish Zaraki's grin.

"I'm alive, too," Lieutenant Hisagi said, still propped on a rock. "Isn't anyone going to kiss me?"

*

It had only been that moment of levity before they'd snapped to the work of clean up and rescue, tired and ragged as they all were. It was easy to mock of the eleventh division, but they were good workers, willing to take instruction as long as they were sure their captain was well. There was something to be said for that kind of loyalty. There was healing to be organised, so first their little group had had to find some of the scattered members of the fourth, small and nervous as some of them were. And, of course, they couldn't survey the entirety of the damage on their own, though when they found him to report their Captain General didn't look in any better shape than they did.

Still, whenever his energy started to flag, Byakuya reminded himself there was nowhere to rest, even if he wanted to. If he and Hitsugaya leaned on each other in weariness a little too much, until Hitsugaya found his lieutenant and leaned on her instead, then they could be forgiven for it, just this once.

If Byakuya had learned anything from this battle it was that they really were all strongest in teams that allowed them to lean on each other's strength. There was something hopeful in knowing they didn't have to be strong alone any more.

*

Not everything in their world had been destroyed, and even in the midst of all the destruction around them Byakuya couldn't help but think of what they'd gained - a new sense of camaraderie and cooperation among those of them that had survived, the look of joy in his sister's eyes when she was with Abarai and her friends, the chance to clear away some of the old and non-functional ways of doing things and replace them with something fresh and useful.

And yet there was so much loss, when he paused to look at it. Sixth company was holding off until enough of the rubble was cleared to find all the bodies, but some divisions were holding funerals already.

After seeing Ukitake laid to rest in a ceremony both dignified and stirring, he took a slow, solemn walk back toward his duties.

Normally, in such a mood, he wouldn't stand by to listen while members of the Eleventh talked about how strong and amazing they felt their Captain was, but he was caught by the contrast between the adulatory tone of their words and the stricken looks on their faces. They generally weren't pretty men in the eleventh and the sadness in the lines of their faces didn't lend these two any elegance or beauty. Their captain, with such raw, untameable power, they said, that the energetic lieutenant had been a projection of the spirit of his sword all along--

And in smaller voices that she wasn't dead, of course, but wasn't it strange how quiet it was without her around to get into all the candy and pull at people's hair.

Byakuya walked away and left them to the grief they didn't seem to know how to voice. Some things you lose and cannot bury.

*

It felt good to be useful, but even so, it was important to take breaks, rest. Or so he was assured by Kyoraku when being ordered to take a night off.

By this point enough had been done in reconstruction that there were, at the very least, makeshift structures for people to sleep in and buildings for the officers. Which meant that nobody would see him dropping in on Zaraki.

Byakuya didn't announce his presence until he'd watched Zaraki for a while. Leaned over a table, those strong hands gently holding a broken toy.

"I hear you've been giving out promotions," Byakuya said.

"There were vacancies. They needed to be filled." Zaraki's voice always had a dry edge to it, a sound like the ragged edge of a sword being dragged over the ground.

"You didn't follow up on that kiss you bestowed on me. How disappointing."

"Did you expect me to bring you flowers?" Zaraki said with a sneer.

"I didn't expect you to be a coward."

Zaraki was easy to provoke. He threw his chair across the room as he stepped out of it.

"You prissy bastard. I'll fight anyone! I'm not afraid of anything you can name."

The flare of his spiritual pressure prickled all over Byakuya's skin. For a moment he wanted to tear something apart, as the strength of it throbbed through him. Exhilarating. No wonder Zaraki's men were always starting fights.

But Byakuya knew everyone deserved a longer time to rebuild before they let a fight tear it all down again.

"I was asking for a fuck, not a fight." Byakuya could be vulgar when he liked.

But Zaraki laughed. "You'll have to woo me first, pretty boy."

Byakuya felt his gaze get sharp. He'd never had to stretch up to kiss someone before, but he knew Zaraki wouldn't lean down to make it easy. The previous kiss had been a taunt, but this one Byakuya gave like a promise. And Zaraki wasn't entirely unyielding.

Byakuya stepped back. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that might be a friendly look on Zaraki's face.

"I'll play with you alone later," Zaraki said, "but right now let's find the other captains and get drunk."

It seemed like a good enough idea. He nodded his agreement, and they walked out into the night together. Perhaps, on the way to finding some of the other captains, they managed to collect some of the lieutenants and a couple of third seats as well, but that was fine. There was something to be said for the camaraderie they'd all managed to build in the wake of so much battle.

It felt like something beginning.


End file.
